So what did you think of Americans? Obviously you experienced a lot of liberty and justice. But tell us about it. What did you think of the way Americans drive, talk, dispense justice, eat fast food? Were there more nice ones than mean ones? That kind of stuff. Compare with Australia.

Sure, glad to. Unfortunately, I met more Americans with bad attitudes rather than nice ones. A lot of people particularly in LA seemed really peeved off all the time. Don't know why. People would hate it when you try to ask for directions, what a certain dish contains in it, etc. For example, when we were walking around Sunset Blvd, we were looking for the Hollywood sign. We had walked for about a hour and Dad decided to ask for directions. So he asked a fellow who was locking his car. My Dad asks him where it is, the guy simply points and gets back to trying to ignore us. My Dad then asks how far. The guys says "oh, six miles." We realise at this point that it is too far to walk. Now in Australia, busy or not, an Aussie would have said in the first place, "Don't bother walking. You're better off catching a cab in six miles in that direction." Believe or not, I do that all the time on the train to film school everyday. There's always tourists from around the world, asking me that stuff, but I'm happy to help. I could be bothered and in a huff about it but it isn't really that big a deal.

Americans, I have found to be rather rough drivers. You guys, can turn into the line of traffic when the lights are red. In Australia, this is illegal. Americans will run you over asnd the crossings' timing really doesn't last long enough for the amount of people who use the crossings. I'd hate to be disable crossing the street in America. Or a little old lady for that matter.

The food is bad. I ended up with food poisoning in Vegas near the end of the trip. The food portions are larger. In fact, your small McDonalds combos are our large combos. However, the American apple pies from MacD's are better than Australia's. There are more Italian restaurants in America (that's a plus). There is way too many hot dogs and burgers for my liking. Aussies eat way less and personally, I think better food. And the sodas in America, have a strong aftertaste, ours don't. Ours is much more subtle.

Showmanship in America is phenomenonal. I have never seen such effort and detail in the Vegas shows, in Disneyland's rides and in particular, the regal beauty of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. We don't have such a grand scale.

Tipping is really what Americans live on. In Australia, there is no tipping, however our wages are much bigger so we earn better money than we would with tipping and low wages. We have a national health system, so if you do get sick you're not thrown into the gutters like in the US. We can reach doctors and we can get medicine for a decent price. Our university's are cheaper and fairer. For example, US film school you paying what about 100 000 bucks at the end of it and you don't touch a camera til 3rd year or so I've heard. In Australia, at the end it totals up to 15 000 bucks, plus you touch a camera in your first week and right up til graduation.

One last thing... the Pollution.... I shudder at it. The smog that never dies in LA and black rain in Las Vegas. I've never seen anything like that. Australia have deep blue skies, no smog and clean fresh air, even in Sydney, the busiest city. And United Airlines doesn't clean their planes at all. Our planes are always cleaned, even before a half hour flight.

I know I've written a lot but these were my observations. I'm sorry if I have offended, but this is what I've seen.

Actually, it was the Room Service hot dog. No, didn't see Ka. I'm not a huge fan of Cirque Du Soliel. They come to Australia a lot anyway. However, I did see Phantom at the Venetian. That was amazing!!!!! I also saw Celine Dion at Ceasar's and Lance Burton at Monte Carlo (that wasn't good). I also saw Tourney of Kings at Excalibur (that was awesome, one of the best meals in Vegas too).

I know I've written a lot but these were my observations. I'm sorry if I have offended, but this is what I've seen.

Your observations are mostly off-base. Please note, America certainly has the best university system (how many Aussie schools are ranked in the top 20 world wide?); especially in that most colleges offer need-blind admission and pay financial aid to the full extent necessary. This thing about "not touching a camera until 3rd year", where did you get it from - it's completely FUD. Come to MIT and tell me US universities don't give you your money's worth.

You're basing all of your judgments off of singularities: "Americans don't clean their planes"? wtf? And I dare you to produce one statistic that suggests that aussie waiters get higher all in pay on average (hint, it's not true). Also, you went to some trashy parts of LA, and Las Vegas - not at representative of anything. And the national health system just comes out of your taxes..
you seem to be turned off because you met one guy that's not as nice as you (think you) are. well that's why this country is a melting pot. Next time try San Fransisco, Boston, Chicago, New York.

On behalf of our country, I apologize for the rudeness. However, it sounds like you hit the touristy areas, and I'm sure the locals sometimes get tired of helping out the tourists. L.A. is not representative of our entire country (especially in the natural beauty department), so please don't think that the whole country is this way. If you want to see the true beauty of America, go to Colorado, for example, and see the Rocky Mountains, or come here to Michigan in the fall to see the amazing fall colors.

Traveling all that way...and end up eating at McDonalds? I think I would do the same thing, though, just to see how they compare.

Your judgments do seem a little harsh, VI, especially since you were only in the United States for two week, which was split between two different cities. I wouldn't generalize Americans and what you "observed" by single experiences, just like I wouldn't judge Australians based on my online observations of you.

And were you honestly expecting clean air in L.A. and Vegas, as well as five star cuisine from hotel room service and places like McDonald's? As for your judgments of the American health system and education, you got this information second hand, right? Also, who says that Australians are healthier eaters than Americans?

Why are you jumping on Violet Indy like that? She is just saying what she saw and giving her impresions of USA.
Sure, she did not see entire country, and her words do not apply to everything in USA. But still she saw what she saw. And that's the truth. Do not run away from it.
When you go to Australia you can compare it to your city and say whatever you want. For now let the girl see the world with her own eyes.

Amazing how quick peple turn on you. I'm surprised that you all think that the examples I gave were the only things that happened thus giving my generalisations. Similar things had happened eg. Waiters giving strange looks whenever I asked about certain dishes, Mexicans getting angry because I couldn't speak Spanish and because they got my order wrong. I didn't just eat fast food, I ate various foods at various restaurants. I wasn't expecting luxury, I was expecting just common eatable food standards. We do have people who are overweight, but not as many in number, nor as large.

Education info was second hand, so go ahead correct me if I'm wrong.

American universities are better funded and have been for longer. I would also like to point out Australia's Geelong Grammar, at which Prince Charles future king of England attended.

In the end, a person is truly the nly one who knows their home. I am only a guest. I maybe a nice person, but I am not a "Yes" woman. If anyone were to come to Australia, and say anything negative, I accept our faults, and would defend, but in the end get up and move on.

As for the Health System, there are well known facts. Go look up Medicare Australia and see what I'm talking about.

As for waiters, try 10 bucks an hour and up depending on where you work.

I also said positive comments and none have noticed. For all who think Australia is a backward country, you really need to see the place for yourselves before you go attacking Australia just because I made some negative observations.

Sure, glad to. Unfortunately, I met more Americans with bad attitudes rather than nice ones. A lot of people particularly in LA seemed really peeved off all the time. Don't know why. People would hate it when you try to ask for directions, what a certain dish contains in it, etc. For example, when we were walking around Sunset Blvd, we were looking for the Hollywood sign. We had walked for about a hour and Dad decided to ask for directions. So he asked a fellow who was locking his car. My Dad asks him where it is, the guy simply points and gets back to trying to ignore us. My Dad then asks how far. The guys says "oh, six miles." We realise at this point that it is too far to walk. Now in Australia, busy or not, an Aussie would have said in the first place, "Don't bother walking. You're better off catching a cab in six miles in that direction." Believe or not, I do that all the time on the train to film school everyday. There's always tourists from around the world, asking me that stuff, but I'm happy to help. I could be bothered and in a huff about it but it isn't really that big a deal.

Americans, I have found to be rather rough drivers. You guys, can turn into the line of traffic when the lights are red. In Australia, this is illegal. Americans will run you over asnd the crossings' timing really doesn't last long enough for the amount of people who use the crossings. I'd hate to be disable crossing the street in America. Or a little old lady for that matter.

The food is bad. I ended up with food poisoning in Vegas near the end of the trip. The food portions are larger. In fact, your small McDonalds combos are our large combos. However, the American apple pies from MacD's are better than Australia's. There are more Italian restaurants in America (that's a plus). There is way too many hot dogs and burgers for my liking. Aussies eat way less and personally, I think better food. And the sodas in America, have a strong aftertaste, ours don't. Ours is much more subtle.

Showmanship in America is phenomenonal. I have never seen such effort and detail in the Vegas shows, in Disneyland's rides and in particular, the regal beauty of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. We don't have such a grand scale.

Tipping is really what Americans live on. In Australia, there is no tipping, however our wages are much bigger so we earn better money than we would with tipping and low wages. We have a national health system, so if you do get sick you're not thrown into the gutters like in the US. We can reach doctors and we can get medicine for a decent price. Our university's are cheaper and fairer. For example, US film school you paying what about 100 000 bucks at the end of it and you don't touch a camera til 3rd year or so I've heard. In Australia, at the end it totals up to 15 000 bucks, plus you touch a camera in your first week and right up til graduation.

One last thing... the Pollution.... I shudder at it. The smog that never dies in LA and black rain in Las Vegas. I've never seen anything like that. Australia have deep blue skies, no smog and clean fresh air, even in Sydney, the busiest city. And United Airlines doesn't clean their planes at all. Our planes are always cleaned, even before a half hour flight.

I know I've written a lot but these were my observations. I'm sorry if I have offended, but this is what I've seen.

You know, I missed you. But if you ate fast food, and got food poisoning, welcome to America. You really got a small sample there, and it's hardly a representative one of ALL American food. Especially Home cooked. Eat a real apple pie for goodness sake!

As for the pollution, you went to LA and Las Vegas. What a surprise there. You should've gone to Maryland, my Home state. Maryland is quite the beautiful place. And pollution is low. You go to LA and Las Vegas, then you were bound to inhale somethin' bad. You could've gone to the midwest too, someplace cleaner that is. Big skies and clean air. I live in Oklahoma right now. Oh, and if you want good pedestrian traffic, and people who won't run you over, come to a College town like Stillwater. Drivers roll over for pedestrians here, because they are all jerks and don't care if they get run over. Just kidding.

And tipping. It's what low paying jobs live on. Like waitressing. They get like two bucks an hour, and have to make it up somewhere.

And BTW, you don't really get a good picture of us Yankees in LA and Las Vegas. They are kind of the mutant of America when it comes to nice, sensible people. And when Mexicans get mad 'cuz you can't speak spanish, blame it on California appeasing them like they do. It's disgusting. You'd never experience that in other places. The fact is, those cities are strictly buisness and don't care all that much about people, nor their happiness.

As for Sodas, well... it's the metal. Drink it straight from the bottle, or not at all. Try for glass too, it's better, I swear. If you want hospitality, you better meet a person like me. Just kidding, but avoid resorts and rich College towns controlled by philanthropists, and you'll be fine. Visit Maryland, like I said. Go to Gettysburg too, that place is amazing. In Maryland, the drivers better, the people are nicer, the pollution isn't there, and there is ALOT to do. They've got Ocean City, and Washington DC (the smithsonian), and... well I'm blabbering. Just giving you suggestions though, trying to set the record straight. I'm certainly not turning on you. I'm sorry people were so mean to you here though.

We have a national health system, so if you do get sick you're not thrown into the gutters like in the US.

I heard this urban legend all over Europe. Like the KKK Marlboro box and the old lady living on cat food, it's total hogwash. Every American - plus 12 million illegal immigrants - can get "free" health care (technically it's free only if you don't pay taxes). We see them every day where I work. Mostly for preventable situations. We just shrug and bill Medicare, Medicaid and SSI. It's wrong, because if these people place such a low value on their health, taxpayers shouldn't be forced to value it highly.

I don't base my opinion of the French on the Parisians I've met. Of course LA is full of jerks. That's why I gave you precise directions to the Hollywood sign in June. By the way, did you get a backstage tour of Paramount?

Jay, your pictures are a small sample, just like Violet's experience here.

Beautiful places in America:
A Georgian House
Gettysburg
Downtown in my hometown of Frederick
A road in Oklahoma near where I live now
A coastline in California

Beautiful Places in Australia -
A coastline in Australia
Sydney at dusk
A safari group in the Wilderness

Since you countered with Germany, heres one for you

Beautiful places in Germany-
Neuschwanstein Castle
A Cathedral

Not So nice things in Germany
A Trash can
The Wadden Sea off of Germany

All I'm saying is, you can't judge a country off of one picture. Each place has it's merits and it's shortfalls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moedred

I heard this urban legend all over Europe. Like the KKK Marlboro box and the old lady living on cat food, it's total hogwash. Every American - plus 12 million illegal immigrants - can get "free" health care (technically it's free only if you don't pay taxes). We see them every day where I work. Mostly for preventable situations. We just shrug and bill Medicare, Medicaid and SSI. It's wrong, because if these people place such a low value on their health, taxpayers shouldn't be forced to value it highly.

I don't base my opinion of the French on the Parisians I've met. Of course LA is full of jerks. That's why I gave you precise directions to the Hollywood sign in June. By the way, did you get a backstage tour of Paramount?

By the way Moe, I totally agree. We do not by any means refuse treatment to those who are in dire need. We certainly do not throw people out when they need it and can't pay for it, that is a load of crap.

As for that backstage tour of Paramount, I didn't bother contacting Stephens. It was hard to get to a decent internet cafe.

And I agree with you, fortune and glory. I didn't see those parts of America and I'd like to one day. A lot of people that I met that were from the Mid West in my travels, were the only nice people. We met a lovely professor from Chicago State University and we now keep contact with her via email. Friendliest person in Vegas. She was on holiday too.

As for Germany, it's another place I've always wanted to go, actually. My mum went twenty years ago when she went to Hungary. She said that Frankfurt was beautiful. But, c'mon Jay. Don't tell me you just went to the Outback??? It's boring out there. Sydney is the best. So is Brisbane and the Gold Coast.